


The Thing about the Cipher

by Zennar



Series: Weirdness Rises [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Developing Relationship, Drama, F/M, Family, Humor, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28452561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zennar/pseuds/Zennar
Summary: Dipper and Mabel Pines return to Piedmont after their first summer in Gravity Falls. They soon come to realize that they have changed a lot over the past three months and that readjusting to their old way of life won’t be an easy task. Meanwhile Stan and Ford Pines investigate the anomalies of the Arctic Ocean. Both pairs of twins will encounter a lot of Weirdness and many mysteries in their new lives.
Relationships: Pacifica Northwest/Dipper Pines
Series: Weirdness Rises [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2084019
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	1. Home

**Author's Note:**

> The chapters continue each other to build a larger story. There are many side plots, which will eventually lead to a main series arc so to say.

Death. Such a scary concept. The inevitable end of everything a person is. Ford had already witnessed so much death in his life. He was surrounded by corpses of all different kinds of species. He looked around trying to figure out where he was. He appeared to be at the battle of Blood Ridge on the third moon of a planet known as Glapflap. He was sitting with his back against a barricade, which was probably there to protect him and the soldiers next to him from the enemy fire. He was surrounded by all different kinds of aliens, while the enemy appeared to almost exclusively consist of Gromflomites.

“Everybody down!”

The Scream ripped Ford out of his thoughts. Someone jumped on his back, pinning him to the floor, just before a big missile hit the ground. Body parts, burning earth and metal shards flew through the air just barely missing Ford. The man who had pinned him down stood up and helped Ford up.

“Thanks.” Ford tells him. 

“Get your head in the game Ford!”, the man tells him. “You are one of the best we’ve got. We can’t afford to lose you, because of your nerd breaks! Now come on we’ve got a tight schedule.” 

“Of course.” Ford replies.

He pulls his plasma gun out of his pocket and follows the man. They duck down behind yet another barrier. 

“Air strike is coming in 15 minutes sir.” One of the Borpocian soldiers tells the man who just saved Ford.

Before Ford can hear the answer, another missile hits the ground. Ford’s body flies away in spectacular fashion. He can feel parts of his body burning and bones breaking from the pressure of the explosion. He hits the ground on his back, making it break on impact. After a few seconds, which feel like hours, he starts to feel numb and faints. 

Ford practically jumps out of bed. He quickly realizes he is in his room and that it was just a dream. A dream from a different life. A life he has left behind.  
Ford was in his room in the Mystery Shack. Him and Stanley were still preparing for their departure to the Arctic ocean. They had to collect all the equipment they needed, while also having to either find, buy or build a boat, which can carry all their equipment, food supplies and has space for the twins to live in. This was a more difficult task than Ford had originally anticipated due to their tight budget. 

It was still completely dark outside and according to Fords clock it was around 1 am. He was still wearing his coat, indicating that he had fallen asleep whilst documenting his travels through the multiverse. His theory was confirmed when he found his new journal three laying on the floor, next to his coach, which he had been sleeping on. Ford was making copies of his journals, so that he would have a backup of his research in case the original ones were ever destroyed again. But, because of Ford’s documentation of his findings throughout the multiverse, journal 3 was much more filled, meaning he would have to start journal 4 soon.

Ford suddenly felt the urge to look for a restroom. When opening his bedroom and walking into the hallway, he noticed a shadow in his peripheral vision. He turned towards the shadow, but saw nothing once he had completed the body movement. 

“Hello!?”

No answer.

Ford journeyed further into the hallway, while grabbing his energy weapon out of his trench coat. Gravity Falls is a place with many weird beings. Whatever might have entered could be dangerous. A door swung open to his right. Ford immediately turned towards the door, pointing his energy weapon at the large hairless man in front of him.

“Um, are you OK, Mister Pines?”, Soos asked.

Ford relaxed.

“Yeah, I just thought I saw something.”

“You should get some sleep dude. I am sure you are just paranoid dude.”

“Maybe. You can never be sure in this town”, Ford answered.

“Heh, me, Mabel and Dipper have seen some weird looking things in this town dude. Believe me I know what you mean.”

“Anyways, I am sorry for the interruption of your sleep. I’ll get back on the matter myself.”

“No problem Mister Pines, have a good night,” Soos replied.

Soos closed the door behind him. Ford didn’t know what to make of him. He appeared to be kind and helpful, but also a little clumsy and maybe a little slower at times. More importantly though, what did he just see? It looked like a human, but he wasn’t entirely sure. Or maybe Soos was right and he was just being paranoid. Ford forced himself to stop using his brain and try to sleep. His brain had always been, what kept him up at night. If only he could stop to think entirely sometimes. He had actually tried building a machine for that, but it turns out that making oneself braindead can be quite dangerous.

Ford laid down onto his coach. He took a look around his room. The night stand with his alarm and his lamp at the end of the coach, the mirror to his right, the shelf next to his door. Everything was in the right place. Except his carpet, which was missing for some reason. Still, everything felt right. It felt like home.

Dipper was exhausted. After Weirdmageddon, a long birthday party and a 7-hour bus ride, he needed a break. That However, was not his biggest concern. Him and Mabel were currently walking a 15-minute walk from the bus station to their house. They were both silent. The exhaustion was one of the reasons, but the most important one was their mutual feeling of emptiness. A few hours ago, they were living an exciting life full of mysteries, family and the best friends that they had ever made. Sure, Piedmont wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the same. Especially for Dipper this was true. He had always been on the more quiet and reserved side and therefore didn’t have as many friends here in Piedmont. Mabel had always been outgoing and bubbly, which made her somewhat popular. She had many friends here, but none as good as Candy, Grenda, Wendy or Soos. The twins were also gonna miss their Grunkles. 

They finally arrived at the walk-up to their house. They went towards the door and rung the doorbell. A smiling Lily Pines opened the door giving them both a hug.  
“Oh my god, you two have grown. It’s good to see you back. How was Gravity Falls? Did you enjoy it? Henry, they are back!”.

Behind Mrs. Pines the twins’ dad, Henry Pines came. He gave them both a hug.

“Hey, how were the woods champ? Hope you didn’t play video games all day”, he said directed at Dipper. “Anyways, how was it?”, Mr. Pines continued without waiting for an answer. 

Mabel and Dipper looked at each other. They were both tired and felt kind of down. 

Dipper took the lead and said: “It was great, but can we please talk about all of this tomorrow. Mabel and I are both very tired.”

The parents looked at each other, before Lily said: “Of course we can.”

Mabel and Dipper stepped inside. The twins walked into the living room. Everything was in the right spot, just like they remembered it, but the aura and the air. Dipper couldn’t explain it, but everything felt off. He felt like he wasn’t supposed to be here. He should be in Gravity Falls, hanging out with Wendy, going on adventures with Mabel and talking science with Ford. He decided to ignore the feeling and went upstairs. He put his baggage in his room, got his bath equipment and went to the bathroom. Him and Mable shared the same bathroom in this house too. Though this one was a bit cleaner. They were both brushing their teeth, when Dipper finally decided to talk.

“This feels wrong. I feel like everything around me isn’t quite real, like I shouldn’t be here. I want to be back in Gravity Falls.”

Mabel was at first taken aback by Dippers sudden outburst of emotion and panic, but quickly recovered.

“I’m sure it’s just the first night bro. After that it’s an entire school year of fun with your favorite sister MABEL!”

“I hope you’re right”, Dipper replied without much optimism. 

“Of course, I am right Dipper. This will be the greatest non-summer ever! And in less than a year we’ll be back in Gravity Falls anyway.”

“You are right. It’s only many, many months.” Dipper replied. 

“I am gonna go to bed now. Good night.”

Dipper went back to his room. He closed the door and laid down on his bed. Even though Mabel acted as happy as ever, Dipper knew, that she was putting on a show. On the one hand to cheer him up and on the other to trick herself into being more optimistic. 

Dipper took a look around the room. The lamp on the nightstand on his right, the computer on his desk on the left, his shelf across from him, the big piles of books everywhere in his room. Everything was in the right spot, but it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like home.


	2. Optimism

Ford was sitting at the kitchen table. He was reading the most recent edition of the Gravity Falls Gossiper. He was reading the section about the mayor Tyler Cutebiker. He had only met him briefly during Weirdmageddon. He seemed much more energized than the previous mayor Befufftlefumpter, but not exactly ambitious either. 

Ford flipped to the next page and discovered an interesting ad. Apparently Bud Gleeful was now selling boats. Ford had seen his car shop when visiting the town. Most of the cars however seemed to be broken or badly damaged, which may have been due to the gravitational anomalies caused from the portal. Considering Gleefuls cars are broken and his only buyers during the non-tourist season were the locals, it made sense that he would be looking to expand. Ford didn’t know the Gleeful family well, but Stan and him have had problems finding a boat, so this should at least be worth checking out.

“What are you reading there, Ford?”

Ford looked up from the paper and saw Stan standing in the doorway.

“Good morning to you too Stanley. I’ve just discovered that a local neighbor has been getting into the boat business. Here, take a look at this.”

Ford handed Stan the paper. Stan took a quick glance at the opened page and immediately threw the paper onto the table.

“Forget it Ford, we’re not buying anything from that guy. His kid tried to destroy my life multiple times during the summer. And not in a fun way.”

“We should at least look at what he has to offer Stanley, because right now this might be the best option we have”, Ford replied.

“Didn’t you hear what I just told you Ford, the kid is a mani-“

“It doesn’t matter Stanley, we are going.”

“Fine, but I am not paying.”

“Hehe, like you could.”

“Hey, I will have you know that I have had a very successful career in sales!”

“Well, at least you are not in prison anymore” Ford replied with his back turned to Stan and a slight grin on his face.

“Wait, aren’t you the known criminal in outer space?” Stan asked.

“There may have been a few one-sided involuntary trades I have been a part of. Anyway, you should be getting ready for our departure.” Ford answered, ending the conversation.

Stan walked off with a grin on his face, while shaking his head.

Dipper and Mabel were sitting on the school bus on their way to their last year of middle school. After that they would be high schoolers. The time where the “real life” starts from what they had heard. Dipper didn’t believe that. He felt that his experiences in Gravity Falls were realer than the ones most adults would ever have.

Mabel was sitting next to him and was texting on her phone. Since they had left Gravity Falls, Mabel had been texting Kandy and Grenda constantly. She stayed in touch with basically everyone she met there, even Pacifica.

Dipper also tried to contact Wendy, Soos and his Grunkles regularly, but not as often as Mabel. Mabel had given him Pacifica’s E-Mail address, but he hadn’t sent her an E-mail yet. He didn’t know if he should, considering they weren’t even really friends. Or were they? Dipper still wasn’t quite clear on that. 

Dipper was ripped out of his thoughts when he suddenly felt something poking him.

“Poke!”, Mabel said. “Come on Dipper, why are you so grumpy pants? Aren’t you excited to see all your friends again or my friends, who I’m gonna set you up with?”

“First, please don’t do that anymore, those dates are really embarrassing. Second, I don’t know. I guess I’m just bummed that I’m not in you know where”, Dipper replied.

“Oh, stop being all Dipperish and start being happy again. Otherwise, the dates you are gonna be on are going to be even more awkward and sweaty.”

The bus stopped in front of a big brick building. Mabel and Dipper waited and were the last to leave the bus, so they wouldn’t get squashed by excited kids wanting to see their friends again after a long vacation or summer exile. 

School didn’t start for another 5 minutes, so everyone was looking for their friend group, including Mabel. She only had to look for a few seconds, until she discovered one of her friends, who was already waving her to come over.

“There they are, I’ll see you later in English class bro. See ya”, Mabel said as she ran towards her friends.

Dipper also spotted one of his friends. Henry. He was one of Dippers few good friends here in Piedmont. Henry was an absolute giant. At the age of 13 he was already 6’0 tall and also had a broad build. He was really into basketball and boxing. His personality however didn’t really match his looks. Though not the smartest, Henry was a very kind and reserved guy. He mostly hung out with Dipper and their small friend group, even though he could be really popular due to his status as the schools most promising athlete. His love for movies and video games made him gravitate more towards the circles Dipper finds himself in.

“Hey, what’s up dude? How was summer at your grandpas?”, Henry asked.

“Hey man, it was great. Though it was my great uncle and not my grandpa. Btw where are Felix and Toby? I haven’t seen them yet” Dipper asked.

Toby and Felix were the other two members of their small friend group. Toby was a blond and lanky guy, who seems to always be happy and Tom was a short guy with curly black hair and glasses, who was surprisingly charming and talkative. 

“Haven’t seen them, but I have class with Tom later. That reminds me, my first class is like at the other end of the school, so I have to go”, Henry replied.

“Bummer. Well, I guess I’ll see you later at lunch break then.”

“Yeah, definitely. See ya!”, Henry said before jogging off.

Dipper himself started the ascend of the concrete stairs in front of the school. Class was starting soon. The encounter with Henry had given him hope. Maybe Piedmont wasn’t that bad afterall. Besides he was in contact with most of his friends from Gravity Falls anyway. Though he would still miss the adventures and his Grunkles, watching movies with Wendy, doing dumb stuff with Soos. And there it was, he was sad again. No, this isn’t gonna happen, Dipper told himself. He was gonna try and stay optimistic. What he had here in Piedmont was a normal life. Something most people are happy with, so he could be happy with it too. Still though, Dipper wanted more. Normal was not enough for him anymore.

“And this is my good old Mary, she may not be a small, but she can take a punch I’ll tell ya that much!”, Bud said before winking at the Pines twins. 

Stand and Ford looked at each other in confusion about the comment. The boat they were looking at was pretty big. It had a motor as well as a sail and was made out of metal. With a small cabin on top and a lot of space under deck they also had enough space for all of their supplies. It was perfect.

“So, what do you think Mr. Pines? A nice, locally sold ship for our local town heroes”, Bud said with his usual advertising voice.

“It seems to fit our requirements quite well, but what would be the price for a watercraft of this caliber?”, Ford asked.

“A good question Mr. Pines. Normally it would be more, but to the two town heroes, I’ll sell it for 120 thousand.”

“What?! That is preposterous! I told you we shouldn’t have gone to this scammer Ford!”, Stan raged.

“Now Now Stanley, no reason to get angry, 120 is a fair price for such a well-built ship. But if it’s not in your budget then maybe you should take a look around. We always have plenty of fine boats for our local citizens. Now if you excuse me, new customers have just arrived.”

And with that Bud walked off with a wide business smile to greet his new customers.

“Come on Sixer, let’s go, this is a waste of time.”

“No Stanley, we should still have a look around. Perhaps Mr. Gleeful is in possession of a ship that fits our budget better. Though I have to admit that things are considerably more expensive now than they were 30 years ago.”

“Fine, we can stay, but I’m still not paying.”

Ford and Stan walked around the area. The boats were all on heavily supported wooden pedestals, but the exhibition area itself was merely dirt and grass. They took a look around, but most of the ships were either to small or weren’t robust enough for an adventure in the Arctic ocean. Afterall Bud was expecting people to use these boats for Lake Gravity Falls.

Suddenly something caught Fords eye. The boat was made of robust-looking wood on the outside with metal on the inside to support the structure. The steering wheel was in front of a relatively big cabin, which contained a table and a little kitchen. There was a motor in the back, but also a pole for a sail on top of the cabin, though there was no sail attached. 

“OK, I gotta say this thing does look pretty good”, Stan admitted.

“It does, but I don’t think it has the space we require. Well, only one way to find out”, Ford replied.

All the ships at the sale had ladders, so the customers could look at the inside of the boat. The twins climbed up the ladder and found themselves on the deck. They had already seen everything at the top, so they went under deck and what they found took their breath away. The storage room had the size of a warehouse.  
Ford scratched his eyes and blinked a couple of times, but his eyes were fine. They were really in a room with an area of approximately 10.000 square feet. The ceiling was about 25 feet high and made of flat metal, which appeared to be the same as the one on deck. The metal was the same for the floor and the walls and contained no details, making the storage area appear to be a box. 

“How is this possible?”, Stan asked in astonishment.

“Incredible. I have only witnessed this phenomenon once before. I encountered a room like this on a planet known as Ringbor. They used advanced technology to create this effect in order to safe storage space.”

“But how could the builder of this boat have stolen that tech from those space nerds?”, Stan asked, while still being astounded.

“I don’t think whoever built this thing did. The question is if the builder even knew about this. It could be that parts of crash site Omega were used for a technology that creates this effect. Or maybe this is caused by Gravity Falls’ Weirdness. Who knows? Whatever it is, it is definitely worth looking into. The good news is that I think we found a boat that fits our needs.”

“And the best thing is that Bud probably doesn’t even know about this. That means lower price for us and more money we can use on weapons and babes.”

The twins looked at each other and smiled. The last week of putting everything they needed together had been exhausting, but now they were both finally excited for their adventure.


End file.
